Description: The Wolfman is one of the great classics of modern horror. Now, based on the upcoming film, is a terrifying new novel written by Jonathan Maberry, based on the screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self based on a motion picture screenplay by Curt Siodmak.Lawrence Talbot's childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother's fiancee tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector has come to investigate.As Talbot pieces together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance at ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature that stalks the woods surrounding Blackmoor. But as he hunts for the nightmarish beast, a simple man with a tortured past will uncover a primal side to himself . . . one he never imagined existed. The rating: "R (Restricted--Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian)" This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Description:Professor of English at Indiana State University and the author of the literary biography Mark Twain: Man in White, Michael Shelden is the perfect candidate to lead this series of lectures on one of the most important - and most influential - of all American authors. From Twain's early history through his landmark achievements and the defining moments of his extraordinary life, Shelden imparts a learned understanding of both the man and his astounding body of work.

Description: Of all the civilizations that have ever existed, none have inspired as much wonder and awe as Ancient Rome. No society has replicated the achievements nor enjoyed the longevity that the Roman Empire did. This course explores the world of Ancient Rome as students investigate important events and key figures of the epoch. The individual lectures will examine major themes while touching upon the fascinating details of Roman life, such as the Romans' intensely hierarchical social order. Along the way, numerous facts of cultural literacy, such as what it means to "cross the Rubicon", will be illuminated as listeners enjoy Frances Titchener's unique style and finesse. At the end of this course, students will possess a thorough understanding of Ancient Rome's legacy to the modern world, and will have fully considered the poet Vergil's assertion that the Romans' talent was to "rule mankind and make the world obey."

Description:The goal of this course is to provide an overview of the many different ways writers of fiction and nonfiction have imagined, and reimagined, the object known as the Grail. We'll look at how the Grail was invented as a powerful literary symbol in the late 12th and early 13th centuries by a group of medieval romancers who celebrated the Grail as a symbol of perfection. At times, this perfection was social, and the Grail functioned as a symbol of the perfect knight or of the ideal chivalric society. Most often, however, the Grail's perfection was unmistakably religious, so that it was indeed the Holy Grail, a symbol of God's perfect love, grace, wisdom, and joy. After being ignored for centuries, the Grail was rediscovered in the 19th century by both poets and scholars, who radically reinvented what the Grail stood for. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, the Grail fascinates many who search for the perfect spiritual wisdom it promises.

Description: Esteemed history professor Thomas F. Madden explores the reformations that swept across Christendom in the 16th and 17th centuries. The impact of these reforms affected government, popes, and kings as well as commoners, for at this time the Church was an omnipresent part of European identity-and the import of Church reforms on every level of life at this time simply cannot be underestimated. Involved in this fascinating era are such notable personages as King Henry VIII, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. Through every aspect of this remarkable process of reformation, Professor Madden captures the essence of the era-and imparts a true, studied understanding of just what this time period meant to the course of human events.

Description: Renowned professor Thomas F. Madden turns his scholarly eye on the intrigue and politics swirling about the Medieval Church. Professor Madden explores the compelling events that shaped the culture and forever altered history, from the Monophysite Controversy to reform movements to the Inquisition, Black Death, and Great Schism.This is a history populated with larger-than-life characters and notorious personages such as Charlemagne, Pope Innocent III, and the Knights Templar. Richly detailed and infused with dramatic intensity, Professor Madden's captivating lectures provide a better understanding not only of the Medieval Church, but of the modern world that followed.